Guard for leather-pressing machines



J. W HERKEL AND J. D. McCOY.

GUARD FOR LEATHER PRESSING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 24. I921.

msass'z.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Oct. 24, 1922.

J. W. HERKEL AND J. D. McCOY.

GUARD FOR LEATHER PRESSING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED 05024, 192].

Patented Oct. 24, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

IIVVEIVTORS Patented @et. 2d, 1922 JOHN VJ. HERKEL, DI! MIDDLEUILLE,

AND D. MCCOY, OF LITTLE FALLS, NEW

YORK.

GUARD FOR LEATIiER-PB-ESSING MACHINES.

Application filed December 24, 1921. Serial No. 524,$O8..

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, JOHN 12V. HnRKnL andJArms D. MoComcitizens of the United States, residing at Middleville and Little Falls, respectively, in the county of Herkimer and State of New York, have invented certain new and: useful Improvements in Guards for Leather-Pressing Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being =had therein to the accompanying drawing.

Our invention relates to a guard for leather pressing machines, and we declare the following to be a (full, clear,iconeise and exact description thereofsufficient to enable anyone skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which like ireferenceicharacters refer to like p arts through the specification.

The object of the invention is ,to provide a guard for leather pressing machines that will eliminate accidents happeningto-the op- ,erators thereof through carelessness due to thrusting the hand between-the pressingsurfaces of theinachine afterithas been started. This is .most always fatal and results in catching andcrushingthe hand of the person, whois thus careless.

The invention'will be understood by referring to the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of-a leather pressing machine, showing the novel guard mechanism attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a detail view, showing apex-spective of the guard mechanism detached from the machine.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a leather pressing machine 1 of well known construction, and having a vertically movable table 2' and a stationary presser head 3 is shown in Fig. 1. The parts of the guard, whit-hare novel, embodies ;rods 5, .5 attached on. opposite sides of the machine by brackets 6,6 to the guard 7. .De pending gnardinember Thavingfour sides that are fastenedtogether by brackets 8. is movable ina vertical plane. Thesides of the guard '7 are made of'heavycard board or stiff fabric, whereby to yield sufficiently to allow for the withdrawal of the hand or other object therewithin and underconditions to be hereinafter stated.

Rods 5, 5, pass down through guide recesses made in member 9, 9 bolted at 10, 10

bolt laterally projecting bracket 53 formed into oppositev sides of the machine. Said rods 5 carry laterally projecting headed .pins 11 upon which are mounted the rotatable sleeves 12, 12 used to aid in reducing friction when m'akingcontaot with the ends of pa-wls 1,4, 1.4. Pawls 1 1 are pivoted, in each instance, about midway of their length at 15, 15 to brackets 16, 16, fastened to opposite sides of the leather ,pressing machine. One V-endlof each of the pawls 1a; is adapted to engage a shoulder 17 formed in a bell crank lever 20 in the one case and a. shoulder 1'? formed in lever in the other, whereby to limit the rocking of bell crank lever 20 and lever 25, in order to prevent theoperation of the machine, should a personshand be between thetable 2 andhead3.

jBe-ll ,crank lever 20 is mounted upon one end of a rock shaft 21 that is journalled in bearing brackets 22, 22 attached to frame 1 of the machine and is adapted to rock with said shaft 21. Lever-25 isattached to the opposite end of shaft 21 and. adapted to rock therewith also, whereby to raise the corresponding rod 5 locatedontheopposite or far side of the .machine as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Arm 26 of hell crank lever 20 is pivoted by a screw bolt 27to bracket 28 bolted at 29 to the-connecting rod 30. Several apertures 31 are formed in bracket 28, whereby to allow for adjustment in connecting to bracket 28. Oneend of connecting rod is pivoted to a bell crank lever 32 that is fulcrumed at 33 to shaft 34: having a hearing at fastened to frame 1 of the machine. An adjustable weight 36 is attached to the free end of hell crank lever 32, where by to aid inmovinghand lever 3'7 to inoperative-position. The opposite end of con nectingrod 30 is pivoted to said hand lever 37, which is adapted to rock shafts 38 and 39, whereby to throw in and out of wommission the clutch d-(itliat controls the actuation of themachine in a well known manner. A handle 41 projects laterally from hand lever 37 to aid in the manipulation of the said lever 87.

A coiled spring is. attached at its upper end to the frame 1 at 51. The other end of the spring 50 is secured to an adjustable 5-2 :that has a threaded bearing in tegral with arm 26 of bell crank lever 20. Spring 50 will tend to hold said bell crank lever 20 and other parts connected thereto in either one of its limiting positions.

The guard 7 may be limited 1n its downward movement by adjustable bolts 60, 60

the guard 7 having been previously raised bythe upward movement of table 2, there will be suflicient space between table '2 and head 3 to allow the operator to place the leather upon the upper surface of table 2 and to smooth out any wrinkles therein in a proper manner before starting the machine.

In order to start the machine, however, the operator wil pull outward on hand-lever 37. During the lirst part of the'movement of hand lever 37, bell crank lever and lever 25 on the opposite side of the machine will be actuated, whereby to allow the vertically movable rods 5, 5 to descend sulth ciently far to cause the lower edges of the four sides of guard 7 to come in contact with the upper surface of table 2 and, there by, prevent the operator from thrusting his hands in between table 2 and head This movement off guard 7 will take place before the machine has begun to operate or before the clutch has engaged and table 2 begins to rise. i

In the event that the operator has not already withdrawn his hands from between presser head 3 and table 2, the descending guard 7 will cause its sides to hit his hands and warn him of impending danger in time to withdraw them. The sides of the guard. 7 will yield sufficiently to allow the operator to withdraw his hands,intl1is instance.

In the event, however, that the operator should not heed the warning and fail to withdraw his hands, the table 2 will not move up ward for the reason that the hands will prevent guard '7 from descending and hence rollers 12 will not come in contact with the ends of pawls 14-, 14. Pawls lat will remain, therefore, in engagement with shoul- (lei-s17, 17-o'f bell cranklever 520 and lever 25 respectively, whereby to prevent hand lever 37 from moving further outward to throw in the clutch for starting the machine.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

1. In a guard for leather pressing machines having pressing surfaces and power controlling means, a guard, vertical rods attached to said guard, levers having shoul ders for actuating said rods, meansconnecting said levers with the power controlling means of the machine, and pawls adapted to engagesaid shoulders for stopping the operation of the leather pressing machine in case of emergency.

2. In a guard for leather pressing machines having pressing surfaces and power controlling means, a guard adapted to enclose the moving parts, vertical rods attached to said guard, a bell crank lever on the one side and a lever on theother for actuating saidrods, whereby to move. the guard to inoperative position, a rod for connecting said hell crank lever with the power controlling means of the machine, and pawls for -preventing the operation. of the leather pressing machine in case of emergency.

3. In a guard. for leatherpressing machines having pressing surfaces and power controlling means, a guard adapted to en close saidv surfaces, vertically disposed rods attached to said guard, a bell crank lever on the one side and a lever on the other: for actuating said rods, whereby to move the guard to inoperative position, a. rod for connecting said bell crank lever with the power controlling means of the machine, shoulders foruiedhon said bell crank'lever and said second named lever, and pawls adapted to engage said shoulders, whereby to prevent the operation of the machine in case of emergency. 5 i 1 1-. In a guard for leather pressing machines having adapted to enclose said surfaces, vertically disposed rods attached tos aid guard, pins having rotatable sleeves carried by said rods, levers adapted to make contact with said sleeves, whereby to elevate the guard to inoperative position, pawls adapted to engage said levers, and other pins having rotatable sleeves carried by said vertically disposed rods for actuating said pawls to release position thereof, whereby to allow the machine to operate.

5. In a guard for leather pressing machines, having pressing surfaces, a guard adapted to enclose said surfaces, vertically disposed rods attached to said guard, pins having rotatable sleeves thereon and carried by said rods, levers adapted -to make contact with said slecves,whereby to elevate the guard to inoperative position, shoulders formed on said adapted to engage said shoulders, whereby to prevent the ope 'ation of the machine, and'other sleeves carried by said vertically disposed rods, for moving said pawls to re lease position. 7

In testimony wh reofwe have aiiixed'our signatures. i

JOHN w. HERKEL. Jaw-res n. necov.

pressing surfaces, a guard levers, and pawls ilo 

